News Headlines - 19 January 2021

▽Japan's daily coronavirus death toll tops 100 for first time | The Japan Times

The daily death toll from the novel coronavirus in Japan topped 100 for the first time ever on Tuesday, as the country confirmed 104 new fatalities from the virus.
The number of coronavirus patients with severe symptoms across the nation as of midnight Monday grew by 28 from a day before to 1,001, topping 1,000 for the first time and hitting a record high for the 16th straight day, according to the health ministry.

▽49-year-old university exam-taker arrested over refusal to leave toilet | The Japan Times

A 49-year-old man has been arrested after refusing to vacate a toilet cubicle after he was disqualified from taking the standardized university entrance exams for not covering his nose with a face mask, despite receiving multiple warnings, police said Tuesday.

▽“8 Consecutive Wins is Still Halfway”: Interview with Dakar Rally Winning Team｜TOYOTA TIMES

In this story, Toyota Times presents an interview that the editorial team conducted with rally driver Akira Miura, who won in his class in the Dakar Rally, which is known to be the toughest motorsports event in the world.
The rally started on January 3, with competitors racing for more than 7,600 kilometers in the Saudi Arabian desert for 13 days. Miura participated in a Toyota Land Cruiser, finishing successfully with a class win. This is his second win in the rally, and as a team, it was a great achievement of eight consecutive wins.

▽Thai woman sentenced to 43 years in jail for insulting monarchy | Reuters

A Thai court on Tuesday sentenced a 65-year-old woman to more than 43 years in jail for sharing online posts criticizing the royal family, her lawyer said, the country’s harshest ever sentence for insulting the monarchy... Anchan Preelert pled guilty to 29 separate violations of sharing and posting clips on YouTube and Facebook between 2014 and 2015, her lawyer, Pawinee Chumsri, told Reuters.
Anchan was initially sentenced to 87 years but because she had acknowledged her violations the court halved this, the lawyer said.

▽‘Chilling’ crackdown on dissent in Vietnam ahead of key congress | Al Jazeera

As Vietnam’s ruling Communist Party gears up for its most important meeting in years, its leadership has presided over an intensified crackdown on dissent, according to rights groups, activists and data collated by Reuters news agency.
A record number of political prisoners, longer jail terms, and increased harassment of activists in recent years have contributed to the crackdown ahead of this week’s Communist Party congress, a gathering to determine national leadership and policy that takes place once every five years.